Talk:Type 0 Fighter Model 21 (Skilled)/@comment-66.133.226.3-20140607012627/@comment-114.160.71.148-20140909093450
The skill of the IJN Air Service was indeed top notch. But they had war-losing trends. It's the capability for fighting an attritional war. First, the Japanese industry had a terrible ability to replace losses in ships and cargo ships / transports. Secondly, for the IJN Air Service, it seemed they had a horrible pilot training and *replacement* program. When the Kido Butai struck Pearl Harbor, their aircrews were at their apex. They had lots of highly skilled aircrew who were flying for most parts outstanding aircraft. Then 2 disastrous things occured that culminate into an even bigger disaster for the Kido Butai. 1. Battle of Coral Sea - In the end, the Japanese lost lots of irreplacable, highly skilled aircrew in this battle. This is on top of Shoukaku suffering heavy damage. Zuikaku suffered no damage but her air component took such heavy losses that she was useless. Both eventually go back to Japan. Zuikaku would sit around for months and months because the IJN had **no new, replacement aircrew to be assigned to her**. While Shoukaku could be excused because of heavy damage, when the Japanese set sail for Midway, a perfectly healthy Zuikaku was left behind because SHE HAD NO PLANES AND PILOTS. Imagine how Battle of Midway would have gone if Shoukaku and Zuikaku were their with even some of their veteran aircrews? 2. Battle of Midway - Cut a long story short... Disaster. Kaga, Akagi, Hiryuu, Souryuu, 4 fleet carriers with veteran aircrews... gone. This is on top of the losses of Coral Sea. Because after Midway, the Allies begin their offensive for Guadalcanal and engage the Japanese in attritional warfare on land, sea, and air. This campaign is long and costly. And the IJN Air Service fight long and hard here, but again, take losses that are too slow to replace. All this attrition to the legendary IJN Air Service meant all those skilled aviators from the beginning of the war were mostly gone. Aircraft that Japan could hardly afford to lose were slow to replace. It would take the Japanese more than a year to get a decently sized number of planes and aircrew again. But training suffered. Compound this to the Allies' situation. The US for example were training so many new aircrews to fight both the Pacific AND European Theater. More than enough pilots to outfit the US Army Air Corps, US Navy, and US Marine Corps' aviation units. Also, new and better planes were developed. P-47, P-51, P-38, Hellcats, Corsairs, and all kinds of new, more powerful attack and bomber aircraft (single, 2, and 4 engined varieties). In addition, Allied aircrews were surviving more, meaning they had more flight time in combat conditions. They were getting better. They were getting new planes. Adding onto this also is the outrageous construction programs by the Allies, esp. the United States. To put it simply, the US was putting more ships into the water than anyone could sink them. New, Essex-class Carriers were arriving with large hangar space. Even far more CVLs and CVEs were made. ALL of this culminates into the final disaster for the Kido Butai. Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944. The Japanese had reconstituted her lost aircrews from past campaigns. They could finally again field several fleet carriers with ample aircraft and felt confident enough to attack the US forces off of Saipan. But in the end, the Japanese sent many inexperienced aircrew to fight veteran Allied pilots who were flying far superior aircraft. The losses were so huge in Japanese aircraft and pilots that it became known as the "Marianas Turkey Shoot." It took Japan a long time to get those aircrew, and suddenly they were lost. This battle made the IJN Air Service irrelevant for the rest of the war. A month or two later, the final shame for the once proud Kido Butai was the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Zuikaku, the last of the venerable fleet carriers from the beginning of the war and the last of the CVs used in the strike on Pearl Harbor, was sent to battle with no aircraft. Because the IJN had none to give her. Zuikaku was merely used as a decoy to draw American ships away from the invasion area. In the end, proud Zuikaku was sunk with zero airplanes having been launched for battle. And with her, the last symbol of the glory days of the Kido Butai went.